Customer Reviews

No More Jinx

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I fell in love with this record the SUmmer of 86. Have owned multiple copies of it on cassette and vinyl. I have been patiently waiting to see it released for purchase on CD or Digital. Finally Finally.

Lets show our support for this AWESOME 80's band, & buy it up like crazy! The track "Fire with Fire" is reason enough to buy it alone, inspired by the film of the same name, its a dance rush! I feel this band never got the decent recognition they deserved! So, for 23yrs I have been searching for this album on cd & to the disappointment of only ever being released on vinyl LP & cassette! Now's your chance to own it on cd for the first time too.......Id give this album more like 10 stars! Ron Garvey 39/m from Goshen, Indiana

Wild Blue, only made one album and this is it as good as any Berlin album that were put out

I have wanted to own this album as a CD since it was first released in 1985-86. It was listed in some early CD catalogs (remember when there were so few CDs available that a mail-order company could publish them all in a catalog?), but was never pressed as far as I ever knew. A little background on this album: The group was originally called Jinx, and they were a popular live act in the Chicago area in the early 1980's. Their sound was relatively unusual at the time, a harder-edged version of what was later common synthesizer-driven dance pop music. As early as mid-1984, they announced they were going to release their first album, but it took well over a year to finally happen, with several changes along the way. Songs from their live shows ("Video") did not make it to the album, "Nowhere Left To Run" was partially rewritten, and the single "Fire With Fire" was added (it was played over the end credits of the Virginia Madsen-Craig Sheffer movie of the same title). The band was renamed Wild Blue, with only Renee Varo and Joe Zanona making it onto the studio recording from the original group.

The sound quality of the CD is excellent, and this is definitely NOT mastered from a vinyl album. Instruments and Renee's vocals sound clear, stereo separation and imaging are fine, and I heard no background hiss nor did I detect any evidence of noise reduction or other obvious processing on this release. Highs and lows are well-balanced (no, this is not a boomy, bass-driven album, and neither were their live shows), though I did not go back and play my LP to do a direct comparison. I highly recommend this to anyone who still remembers Jinx, or to those who enjoy the music of the 1980's and are looking for something new.

I wouldn't go as far as comparing this duo to Berlin in anyway. There's a world of difference between their music. Berlin's sound was strong, their song writing incredible, both in their earlier new wave stuff and on their more hard rock edged 3rd album. Wild Blue is more of what I consider '80s soundtrack pop rock.' It's definitely catchy, you might like it for a while, but it's generic enough and forgettable enough to have been the background music at any high school dance in any 80s teen movie. In fact, the song "Fire With Fire" WAS the theme song to a movie.

That's not to say there aren't a couple of standouts here. You get a mix of mid-80s Heart, a hint of a Roxette flavor, and the female vocals very often resemble the gruff sounds of EG Daily and even hints of the lead singer of Quarterflash. All very enjoyable, but the real stand out for me is the final track, International Language of Dance. This amazing song could have had both new wave station and cross-over appeal had it been given a chance. melodic, danceable, sensual--I just wish this fantastic song would have also been included in its 12" club mix on here as a bonus track. The problem is, the label that puts this out, Renaissance, I believe is a bootleg label and masters all its stuff from vinyl. That's the real problem with this release. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. It's rather shrill most of the time, with too many highs and no lows in the mix, and several songs have terrible hiss...most notably the song When I Think About You on the female vocals. Eek. I really hope this album gets an official, high quality reissue.